02/24/2016

My son, Michael, is five. Actually, if you ask him, he'll tell you that he turned 5 and a half on February 20. It's important :)

Given his age, I know that we're probably less than six months away from a visit from the tooth fairy. Rather than buy one on Etsy (like I did for Lauryn), I decided to make one myself:

I used this great tutorial from Larissa Holland (she has an amazing blog, by the way). Toothy's little mouth is actually a pocket that can hold the lost tooth as well as The Tooth Fairy's bounty.

I was able follow Larissa's tutorial without any issues, until...

...once I turned and stuffed the tooth, I realized that I attached the hanging ribbon wrong. Grrrr. I decided to put my perfectionist tendencies aside and just leave it alone. I'm honestly the only person who would notice :)

Level of difficulty (on a scale of 1 to 5) =3. Aside from my blooper with the hanging ribbon, this project was fairly easily. It required some sewing machine knowledge, as well as basic hand-stitching skills.

Estimated cost = less than $10. I had to buy the navy wool felt for the body, coordinating thread and polyfill for the stuffing. I still have plenty of all leftover.

Thoughts = I won't become a professional maker of stuffed things anytime soon, but I'm glad I took the time to make this for Michael.

I've declared 2016 The Year of Projects. All year long I'll be completing unfinished craft projects, finishing long-overdue household tasks and learning some new crafting skills. You can see all of my Year of Projects posts here. You can also following along on Instagram - #yearofprojects2016 #52projects2016.

02/23/2016

I think my household has finally recovered from the flu/cold/sinus infection/pneumonia. Seriously. It's been almost 5 weeks since all of us were healthy.

Now, I'm just trying to keep my head above water!

I did manage to finish up my pocket pages for January:

This year, I've decided to keep things super simple (even moreso than usual). I cancelled a bunch of my kit clubs, including the Studio Calico Documenter kit. I found that I get overwhelmed if I have too many options when I'm creating. For 2016, I'm sticking to just a few products:

I bought both the Everyday and Cottage Living Core Kits on sale just before the holidays. I think they go nicely together, so I'm to just work from these + whittle away at my massive stash of embellishments.

I'm using this adorable 6x8 mini-album by Ashley Goldberg to house all of my challenges (the album was included in Kristin's Awesome Ladies Project kit, but it has sold out. You can still find a few of these albums here).

Here are my projects for January:

It's never too late to join in on the fun. Learn more and register here.

01/22/2016

In December, I bought myself a subscription to The Crafter's Box. If you're unfamiliar with The Crafter's Box, I highly suggest giving the site a visit. I actually cancelled all of my other kit clubs (with the exception of 2, both of which I will cancel as soon as each commitment has been fulfilled) so that I could fund my subscription.

I started on Christmas Day while all of the kids were occupied with their various gifts. After taking some time to watch the project video (included with my membership), I jumped right in:

I finished it up last week:

It's in need of a haircut, but I want it to hang for a few weeks to settle a little before I take scissors to it :)

Level of difficulty (on a scale of 1 to 5) = 2.5. It requires some patience and consistency to maintain proper tension (I struggled with this), but the weaving process is actually quite simple. Even the rya knots were a breeze once I got the hang of it.

Estimated cost = $65 for my subscription to The Crafters Box. I received the loom, shuttle, sword (all of which I can use for years to come), down + leather cording (for hanging) and enough yarn for this project + plenty of leftovers. I also purchased an additional set of materials for $35, which I still haven't opened.

Thoughts = I'm addicted. 100%. Weaving was at the top of my list of slow crafts I wanted to learn this year; I'm so glad it's the first one I tackled. I've already bought more yarn to start more weaving projects. Up first will be a weaving for Lauryn's room :)

I've declared 2016 The Year of Projects. All year long I'll be completing unfinished craft projects, finishing long-overdue household tasks and learning some new crafting skills. You can see all of my Year of Projects posts here. You can also following along on Instagram - #yearofprojects2016 #52projects2016.

01/16/2016

Day 21 - I listened to Winter Songs all day long; it's one of my all-time favorite holiday albums.

day twenty two

Day 22 - Full disclosure = I had nothing for 12/22. So I snatched this 3x4 card out of my December Ali Edwards kit and slapped in into my journal :)

day twenty three

Day 23 - My husband took the little ones to the airport to pickup my stepdaughter for her holiday visit. They were so excited!

day twenty four

Day 24 - Christmas Eve! Sweet Michael was so very happy to have all three of his sisters home for the holiday.

day twenty five

Day 25 - Merry Christmas! We spent a quiet morning at home: our two youngest girls got sewing machines, so our oldest gave them some sewing lessons; Michael and my husband played Michael's new Skylanders game and I got busy with my Crafters Box project (more on that later). Such a great day.

I finished my project by using one of my favorite holiday stamps. I don't get a chance to use it very often, so I wanted to make sure I had a place for it.

Thanks so much for sticking with me :)

xo,

e

Curious about December Daily? Learn more about it here. You can check out all of my past albums right here.

01/07/2016

I'm plugging away at my December Daily project. I only have five days left to complete (weekend goals)!

day eleven

Day 11 - Chick Craft Night! This is the annual gathering of my little circle of friends. Usually only two of us bring crafts, but it's always a fun time :)

day twelve

Day 12 - Another movie for me while the kids were in school. Today it was The Family Stone. So good.

day thirteen

Day 13 - Another prompt from Listers Gotta List. Favorite holiday beverages. In truth, I just drink coffee year round! I'm at the point in my life where my system just can't handle the sugar or the dairy in any of the specialty beverages, so I let them all go several years ago. My in-laws and my oldest daughter gave me Starbucks gift cards this year, so I tacked them both right into my notebook. Super simple.

day fourteen

Day 14 - We tried out Playmobil advent calendars for the first time this year (we did Lego last year). The kids LOVED them. It was so cute to watch them get excited each morning. It also led to some creative cooperative play, which is always quite welcome.

day fifteen

Day 15 - I was exhausted on the 15th. I had no idea why, but I listened to my body and went straight to bed after I put the kids down.

How are your projects coming along? Have you finished (hooray!)?

xo,

e

Curious about December Daily? Learn more about it here. You can check out all of my past albums right here.

01/04/2016

For me, it's not officially a new year until I send my kids back to school.

I'm kidding.

Just a little :)

Even though it's only the fourth day of the new year, I already have a few things to share with you.

My One Little Word for 2016 is MORE. I don't intend to join Ali's workshop (it's an awesome workshop, I just don't want to overcommit), but I will keep MORE on my mind as the year progresses:

MORE moving

MORE resting (yes, it's totally possible to do more of both)

MORE patience

MORE reading

MORE time with family

MORE acceptance

MORE clarity

MORE cooking

MORE making

MORE saying yes (a few weeks ago my daughter said, "Mom, you say 'no' all the time"; saying no is part of the job, but I need to find room to say yes more)

MORE love

MORE music

MORE self-care (2015 was an amazing year in self-care for me; I need to keep this train rolling)

MORE risk taking

MORE finishing

Speaking of finishing, I've declared 2016 The Year of Projects. I'm a great project starter, but I'm not the best finisher. This year I'd love to focus on finishing up projects that I've started, learning new skills (hello knitting + quilting!) and taking care of some stuff around the house. I was extremely inspired by my friend Megan's 52 Projects (go check it out!). I just didn't want to commit to a certain completion number; I'm an all-or-nothing sort of person and I knew that if I felt as if I was "failing" I likely wouldn't continue.